At one time dead was pretty cut and dry, that was until Jesus taught about being 'born again', rose from the dead, gave us the Holy Spirit to make us alive and told us about the second death. Before all this; death basically just meant literal physical death, ie : a corpse. Or one could use the word figuratively like being 'dead to something', kinda like a best friend that slept with your spouse; that friendship would be 'dead to you'.
So let's look at the new meanings 'dead' has taken on in the New Testament :
Literal meanings :
*physical = the death of the body (first death)
*spiritual = the death of the spirit (second death)
Figurative meanings :
*physical = the body is condemned to die or has a incurable injury/disease
*physical = dead to something physical (like liver pudding)
*spiritual = the spirit is condemned to die or cannot keep itself alive
*spiritual = dead to something spiritual (like things of God)
*spiritual = not being born again (regeneration by the Holy Spirit)
This should all be kept in mind when reading the Scriptures bounced around in the forum lately ; )
In light of the above it should be easy to understand the Christian saying:
The Reformed are the ONLY Christian group that pays serious attention to The Fall.
God said to Adam "The day you eat of it, you will surely DIE."
That is Genesis 2:17.
Now, if you just keep reading you will find that Adam and Eve DID eat of the fruit, and they did NOT die physically for hundreds of years, so HOW did they "die"?
They died SPIRITUALLY THAT DAY, just like God said.
That day, mankind lost the ability of freewill and were instantly dead in sin with a will enslaved to sin.
The New Testament confirms this:
"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins"
- Ephesians 2:1
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
- Ephesians 2:5
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses"
- Colossians 2:13
What does "dead in sin" mean?
Notice that in all three of the above Biblical references to the phrase "dead in sin" that the solution to spiritual death is God's quickening (or regeneration). This means the concept refers to man's natural state in original sin, apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. To be unspiritual, dead in sin or "of the flesh", then, refers to man's natural fallen condition of bondage to corruption prior to the intervention of the Holy Spirit.
In 1 Corinthinans 2, it teaches us that persons in this state cannot understand spiritual truths when spoken to them, until the Spirit renews them and gives them understanding.
A person without the Holy Spirit is dead to spiritual things and is not able to accept the gospel.
Notice what Paul says here:
"But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God... these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For ...no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, THAT WE MIGHT UNDERSTAND the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The NATURAL PERSON does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is NOT ABLE to understand them because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED." (1 Cor 2:7; 10-14) (emphasis mine)
So, to be "dead in sin" means being a natural FALLEN person, without the Holy Spirit, and NOT ABLE to respond to the gospel.
In Christ,
James
twosparrows
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What does it mean to be "dead in sin"?
Posted : 7 Feb, 2011 08:22 PM
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What does it mean to be "dead in sin"?
Posted : 7 Feb, 2011 09:11 PM
2sparrow... uh... cut to the chase and answer the question!
Nice post James with scripture references... dead IN sin simple means living our lives without Christ in darkness and doing our own thing satisfying the flesh.... BUT, dead TO sin, has a different meaning...it means that now that we are born again, sin no longer has dominion over us, because we have turned our backs on sin and died to sin in our body, and are therefore DEAD TO SIN, AND ALIVE IN CHRIST!... as Paul says, in Romans chapter 6Knowing this, that your old man (sin nature) is crucified with Christ, so that body of sin might be destroyed, therefore, we should not serve sin. Because the person who is dead is freeed from sin. Now if we are dead with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. Knowing that Christ was rasied from the dead died no more and death ahs no more dominion over Him. For when He died, He died TO sin once, but being that he lives, He llives to God Likewise, consider yourself also to be DEAD TO SIN, but ALIVE to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ephesians chapter 1 tells us that: Even when we were DEAD IN SINS, God has quicken (made alive) us together with Christ by grace you are saved.
PJ, you say," Ella, you would be better applying your counsel at home."
I say... PJ, My response still remains on page 1 of this thread. And I also say to you, I have applied my counsel at home, this is why I am able to give it out abroad. Are we not taught to start at home first, then spead the blessings to others?...
BTW, never turn down a blessing of godly counsel just because of your pride, because you are corrected in your understanding of a matter, you never know when you might need it... God speaks much about receiving and rejecting godly counsel of truth when found in error.
So in the words of Jesus, I say to you, you are not rejecting me, but you are rejecting Him and His truth.
There is nothing that can come up against the truth except the truth its self.
I would like to respond to much in your post, however I will only response to little.
You shared:
"As I always say, God's word is revealed, not interpreted!... The Holy Spirit teaches us in all things, through revelation and not interpretation... know the difference... it will cut down on you missing the spiritual mark."
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I agree with what you are saying above...to a point, however the spirit of what you are saying I disagree adamantly. There are many parts to the body of Christ; just because you are not a "interpreter" of the word doesn't mean no one else is. In addition by saying it is either revelation or interpretation, you have put the Holy Spirit in a box of your own making. You see Ella, before I interpret a passage I almost always pray for His revelation, and I always rely on Him to guide me into ALL truth. So you hopefully see, revelation and interpretation are not mutually exclusive, they do not have to be seperate from one another on opposite ends of a scale. In fact interpretation and Holy Spirit revelation are synergistic, put them together and they can accomplish more than both can separately and added together.
"..... when Jesus was speaking to the young man, it was about the importance of, and the cost of discipleship, following Jesus. Which, has nothing to do with Ephesians chapter 2,.."
"That being said, John chapter 7:39, also does not have anything to do with being made spiritually alive per say, as it relates to Ephesians chapter 2, as you are trying to say..."
"Well, again, you must read the whole chapter, and not just pick out a verse or two to try to make your point."
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My Dear Ella,
(speaking of interpretation and revelation)
A woman of humility would not assume others don't understand scripture or are not reading in context, instead she would ask another how they see these verses connected.
You are correct, it is that simple, however some have made it very complicated. They have built huge doctrines on this stuff and derived a sense of pride that they are the only ones who uderstand it. Sometimes outsiders are called to wade into that mess and stir it up. It keeps them from declaring "You don't believe like me because you are ignorant"
twosparrows, that's why you're so respected on this site--- You teach the simple good news; and don't accuse readers or responders of being ignorant because they haven't waded out in the DEEP waters yet. ( also I've never seen you Bully someone for calling out an un-kind act).
awwwwww, 2sparrow, sweetheart, please 'plain to me just what you mean by this comment: "A woman of humility would not assume others don't understand scripture or are not reading, instead she would ask another how they see these verses connected"... are you expressing a chauvinist kinda of inner feeling here?..:excited:
There was not a need for me to ask such as question, becasue you ahd already given your views therefore, I was responding to your views... so what do you mean by "A woman of humility" would have ask such a question before speaking her views on what you had already stated?
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Yes, Dennis, you are correct, we are made alive through Christ when we become born again, and SHOULD no longer be debtors to sin to satisfy the lust of our flesh in sins, because we are now debtors to the Holy Spirit who lives on the inside of us. And the Holy Spirit does not live in a building that is corrupt with sin... so we should as Paul say, we have been set free to no longer willingly sin, under the power of the Holy Spirit. And if we do sin unknowingly, we are told that we now have an advocate in Jesus Christ, so that we can go to Him in prayer of repentance, and there is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, becaseu of grace and God will forgive us ou our sins. But we don't keep willfully sinning just becasue of grace, and we can repent. but we are pray and repent so that we might stop sinning.
